The 2025 Student Vote Canada resulted in a Conservative minority government.
The week before the federal election on Monday, April 28, which saw the Liberal Party hold onto government and the Conservatives form the opposition, more than 900,000 elementary, intermediate and high school students participated in Student Vote Canada. These students came from 5,900 schools across the country, with results coming in from all 343 electoral districts with 870,340 valid ballots and 30,453 rejected ballots.
In Cariboo-Prince George, had the students voted, Conservative incumbent Todd Doherty would have held onto his seat comfortably, garnering 1,048 votes or 46.43 per cent. However, the contest for second place was far closer with Liberal Clinton Emslie receiving 371 votes, New Democrat Angie Bonzanno receiving 327 and Green Jodie Capling securing 261.
Outside of the major parties, the People's Party of Canada's candidate Rudy Sans won 108 votes, Christian Heritage Party of Canada candidate Jake Wiens won 81 votes and independent Kenneth B. Thomson came last with 61 votes.
In 100 Mile House, 100 Mile Elementary School and Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School both participated in the vote. Interestingly, while 100 Mile Elementary voted 53.2 per cent in Doherty's favour, at the high school, Capling received the largest share of the vote at 36.4 per cent.
In Williams Lake, meanwhile, students at Marie Sharpe Elementary School threw 23 per cent of their votes behind Bonzanno. At Lake City Secondary School, 58.5 per cent supported Doherty, compared to the 60.3 per cent he enjoyed on Monday across the riding. Up in Quesnel, Quesnel Junior School and Correlieu Secondary School's students were largely in agreement, voting for Doherty 48.1 per cent 51.4 per cent respectively.
Across the country, the Conservative Party won 165 seats with 36.4 per cent of the vote, forming a minority government. Meanwhile, the Liberal Party won 145 seats and 31.7 per cent of the popular vote. By contrast, on Monday, the Liberals secured 169 seats to the Conservatives' 144, a complete reversal of fortune.
The NDP, meanwhile, did far better in the student vote, holding onto 13 seats and 14.5 per cent of the popular vote, compared to the seven seats they held during the actual election. Meanwhile, the Green Party had two seats to their one in reality, while the Bloc Québecois won only 18 seats and 2.1 per cent of the popular vote.
In the student vote, Pierre Poilievre succeeded in winning his riding of Carleton, Ontario, which he failed to do on Monday. Former NDP leader Jagmeet Singh's fortunes, however, were the same in the student vote, losing his riding of Burnaby South. The rest of the major party leaders, including the Liberals' Mark Carney, the Greens' Elizabeth May and the Bloc's Yves-François Blanchet, all held onto their seats in the student vote as well.
Student Vote is a program of CIVIX, a non-partisan registered Canadian charity dedicated to strengthening democracy through civic education. Before the election, teachers educated their students on the various candidates and their policies before conducting the student vote.
